Strawberry Jam
by Chouette Blanche
Summary: Willow's alone on Valentine's day and Spike's stuck in Giles's apartment. He comes up with an idea to make the day nicer for her. Rated for Spike being Spike. ;)


**Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy: the vampire slayer.**

On February 14th, Spike sat in Gile's apartment, tied to a chair, watching with some amusement the aforementioned watcher pace around nervously then pick up the telephone when it rang. Rupert was waiting for Willow who'd volunteered to watch the vampire as she had no other plans for the day and the others would all want to spend it with their significant others. He felt a stab of anger.

The Slayer would be with her soldier boy, as usual caring only about herself.

The boy had his demon bint with the social skills of an ant.

Even the English watcher was going out on a date with some woman Spike had no intentions to ever meet if she saw something in that wanker.

None of them could care less about what Willow was feeling, all being too caught up in their stupid romances which he knew were certain to fail, though of course they didn't see it.

When she wasn't present, they all complained about how she should just get over dog-boy already, that it had been weeks and her constant moping was getting old.

Spike had been dying - figure of speech - to yell at the bleedin' hypocrites but couldn't as he knew they wouldn't feed him if he told them what he thought of their whining. He'd heard the watcher had been extremely in love with some teacher from the old high-school that Angelus had killed and had never been the same once he lost her. And for crying out loud, the Slayer had spent _three_ bloody years moping because of Peaches so how could she be so indifferent to Willow's suffering just because she had a shiny new boyfriend who wouldn't turn evil from experiencing one moment of perfect happiness? Bleedin' hypocrites the lot of 'em. How he would love to kill them all. Slowly and painfully.

He smiled evilly, fantasizing about killing them all, but was sadly brought back to reality by the watcher slamming the telephone down.

"Darn it!" he exclaimed, checking his watch for the hundredth time that evening.

"What is it, Rupes me good mate?" Spike asked, putting on an overly friendly tone that he knew would drive the man round the bend.

"Be quiet, Spike." Giles muttered distractedly.

The vampire counted to five in his head.

"Willow's been held up at her dorm and won't be here for another twenty minutes. I need to pick up Olivia in ten!"

A plan slowly started to form in Spike's head.

"Ya know Rupes..." he started slowly "I _am_ tied up here with this _very_ secure rope and Red'll be here soon and it's not like even if I could escape I have somewhere to go. Harmony pulled a bloody _stake_ on me. Also, where else am I gonna get all this free blood?"

"No. No, completely out of the question."

Spike recounted to five while Giles quickly glanced at his watch again.

"Willow will be here very soon, Spike. Just...don't try to escape. Remember, you have no where else to go and Buffy's new boyfriend and the rest of the Initiative _will_ kill you."

The watcher said all this while grabbing his coat and keys and backing towards the door.

"Just go on your date already, you bloody ponce." the vampire said and Giles slammed the door before he could change his mind and not abandon the bloodthirsty demon.

Spike waited a minute to make sure he'd really gone, then started to work on the ropes tying him to the chair.

After a couple of minutes, he managed to loosen them enough to get his left arm free and untied himself pretty quickly after that.

The chipped vampire stood up and stretched before making his way over to the kitchen.

He grabbed a mug of blood and stuck it in the microwave befre putting his plan into action.

He checked all the cupboards and swore loudly.

There was _nothing_ that was of any use to him whatsoever. Knowing the watcher, he was probably going grocery shopping after his date, the old wanker.

Spike cursed again. The only food of any use to him was a packet of sliced bread _._ Then something clicked in his brain and no it wasn't the sodding chip. Just at that moment the microwave dinged. God, he hated clichés.

The demon ignored it and opened the fridge, looking for something specific. There had to be _some_.

He couldn't hold back a triumphant grin when he found it, grabbing the jar of strawberry jam and putting it on the counter.

He thought back to a game the Scoobies had played a few nights ago.

They'd all been bored and for some unearthly reason had started taking it in turns to say their favourite thing to do with a topic. When it had gotten to food, the boy's choice of topic unsurprisingly, on her turn Red's eyes lit up and she immediately said strawberry jam sandwiches. It was the first time the blond vampire had seen her smile in a long time. Probably why he rembered the moment so clearly. The sparkle in her eyes really lit up her whole face and she'd looked properly alive for the first time since the mutt had skipped town. She'd looked positively radiant.

Spike froze halfway through buttering a slice of bread. Where had that thought come from? He knew she'd be alone and miserable on Valentine's day, surely that was the only reason he was doing this for her. Right? It wasn't like he had feelings for the girl. Sure, she was the only Scooby he could stand. Fine, he actually liked her but he was still bad! No, he was just trying to be nice to the witch, she'd been nice to him when he'd found out about the chip. That was all it was. Really.

The vampire finished making the sandwich then made another just to use up all the bread and piss Rupert off. Yeah, he was still evil.

He put them on a green plate which appeared to be the old watcher's best and put it on the counter.

Knowing he still had time to spare he looked through the cupboards and found some rose-scented candles. Romantic sod Giles was. Spike filed away the information for a future argument. He lit them with some matches he found and placed them around the plate.

Then he looked at the scene and gave an appraising nod.

"Nice work, William." the once poet muttered under his breath.

He sat back down on the chair and waited for Willow to arrive.

A few minutes later, she came through the door, wrapped in a warm coat.

"Hey, Spike." she mumbled.

"Hey, Red." he replied.

'It's worse than I expected.' the vampire thought 'Girl hasn't even noticied I'm untied.'

A couple of seconds later however, she seemed to take in her surroundings.

The witch's eyes widened as she saw the candles then abruptly turned to look at him.

Spike just sat on the chair angelically.

"What the…?" Willow started.

"Made you a sandwich." he explained "Happy Valentine's day." he added.

"Um...thanks, er, I mean...you're untied!" she stammered.

He smirked at her.

"Well I couldn't cook from this chair now, could I? And I am the Big Bad after all."

"Where's Giles?" she asked, looking around frantically.

"Left right after you rang, pet. Didn't want to miss his date."

Grief flashed across her face for a moment but she quickly regained her composure.

"So he just left you here all alone?"

"Yeah, guess Rupert's bint is more important to him than the safety of this town."

"Well you can't exactly hurt anyone." the witch said, then muttered: "Sorry."

"It's fine, luv. Not your fault Buffy's boyfriend and his army boys are thievin' sods."

The vampire got to his feet and moved towards the couch but Willow didn't think anything of it, instead sitting down next dwn next to him.

"Thieving?" she asked, confused.

"Yeah, bloody thieves they are. Stole my demon. What's a vampire supposed to do if he can't hurt anything?"

"Become a good hard-working member of society?" she suggested, smiling at the thought.

"Sure thing, Red. Why didn't I think of that?" he replied sarcastically.

After a few moments of silence, Spike asked her: "How you coping, Willow?"

She glanced at him, watching her seriously, and burst into tears.

The dead man awkwardly put put his arm around her and patted her shoulder.

The witch moved closer and sobbed into his chest.

"Ssh, pet. It's okay. Tell me what's wrong." he attempted to calm her down.

"It's everything! Oz, Buffy, even Xander!"

"Will it make you feel better if I insult the bleedin' idiots?"

"No." she said sternly, smiling a little though. He smiled back at her, a smile, not his usual smirk.

"Now that Oz's been gone a few weeks, they're all bored of me and it's Valentine's day. They should know I'm hurting more today but I've barely seen them, they're all off being romantic in there perfect relationships!"

She sobbed harder.

"Their relationships are far from perfect, luv. Slayer won't have soldier boy for long, there's too much army in him. And it seems to me that the watcher's girl won't stick around much longer either, the stressing he was doing before he left. Really, the only one that's gonna last for probably a long time to come is the boy's with his ex-demon girlfriend. And dog-boy's out of his mind to leave you."

Willow looked up at him.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really." he told her.

"The sandwich is strawberry jam." Spike added "Your favourite."

Her eyes lit up again like they had before but then her expression turned thoughtful.

"How did you know it was my favourite?"

Spike was glad vampires didn't blush. Not that he would have blushed.

"Er..." he chuckled nervously "Heard you telling your friends in that utterly boring game you lot played a few nights ago."

"And you remembered?" she asked, snuggling up to him. He came to the conclusion that that wasn't a bad thing.

"Well yeah. First time I'd seen you smile in a while. You had a sparkle in your eyes."

"So you were watching me?"

"No! Maybe a little bit."

"Why?"

"Who knows, Red? Who knows?"

Spike carefully moved her and stood up, then walking over to the counter and picking up the plate with her sandwiches and getting his mug of blood out of the microwave as an afterthought.

He went back over to the couch and handed Willow the plate.

She started eating a sandwich while he drank from the 'Kiss The Librarian' mug.

"This is nice." the witch said "Thanks, Spike."

"It's just a sandwich, Red."

"Not just for the sandwich."

He looked at her and she smiled shyly.

"You're quite nice really. You just hide it." she remarked, putting the plate with only one sandwich left on the coffee table next to the empty mug.

"Er, no." he contradicted "I am evil. I'm the Big Bad."

"I know, I know. You have your reputation to protect."

Willow paused, biting her lip then decided to speak: "But just for the record, I like nice Spike a lot more than evil Spike."

With that she leant forwards and kissed him on the cheek before leaning against his chest again.

The vampire froze in shock for a second but then murmured: "Just for the record, so do I. Don't tell anyone though, it's a secret."

He sensed rather than saw her smile.

"Don't worry, Spike. I won't tell anyone."

The demon chuckled.

"Thanks, Red. Wanna watch tele?"

She nodded and he picked up the remote, turning the TV on. 'The Little Mermaid' was playing and after conformation from Willow he left it on. Not that he'd ever admit it but he didn't mind the film, though the songs were annoyingly catchy and got stuck in his head. Also the singing fish were stupid. It was at the part where Ariel was lamenting about how she wasn't a 'Part of that World'. When the seawitch was singing about poor unfortunate souls, lucky he didn't have one just to mention, Spike realised Willow had fallen asleep.

He gazed at the petite witch using him as a pillow. 'What had that kiss been about?' he found himself wondering. Was it just a friendly thank you for the sandwich and being kind when her friends were ignoring her or was it something else?

The vampire found out that he'd missed what had been happening when she stirred and he quickly looked away, eyes falling on the screen and widening slightly when he realised 'Kiss the Girl' was just about to start. The bleedin' lobster started to sing.

Willow opened her eyes wearily but smiled and snuggled into his chest. He wasn't entirely opposed to that. Fine, he wasn't at all opposed to that.

"I love this song." she told him, glancing upwards before focusing her eyes on the screen.

Spike's eyes weren't focusing on the screen. They were watching the redhead next to him.

As if sensing his gaze, the witch looked up and they locked eyes. He felt a strong urge to kiss her in that moment. He slowly lowered his head as she lifted hers. Spike could hear her heart beating fast. Their lips met and slid against each other silently. The vampire even managed to ignore the singing fish. He smiled into the kiss – a genuine smile mind you. She even tasted of strawberries.

When they broke apart she had a rosy flush to her cheeks and looked suddenly shy.

Spike smiled at her before turning his attention to the TV. Of course he wasn't really watching; he was thinking about Willow. Said girl rested her head on his chest again and soon afterwards went back to sleep.

He sat there long after the film ended.

A couple of hours later, just when Spike was drifting off to sleep, the door to the apartment opened.

"Spike!" Giles shouted.

Willow stirred and Spike turned his head around.

Sure enough the watcher was standing there, all alone, and holding a grocery bag.

The vampire swallowed. There was going to be some explaining to do.

Hopefully they wouldn't stake him.

 **Tara's great but I always thought Spike and Willow would make a cute couple.**

 **Hope it was enjoyable. ;)**


End file.
